2017 in knitting

It is time to look back over last year and see what I got up to with my knitting. You can read about 2015 here and 2016 here. I feel like I haven't knitted all of the things that I wanted to knit this year. There are just so many great patterns! I am very pleased with what I have made and I enjoyed making them so I have to remember that. These are more or less in the order that they were made. Things do get moved up and down the list when deadlines or other occasions mean a change in project is needed.

This 1960's cravat and tam makes a super set but the pattern required a bit of tinkering. The cravat works very well and I made it and the tam in a lovely mustard Sirdar Baby Bamboo. It is 80% bamboo and 20% wool. I love everything about wool but it does not love me back. It itches me beyond belief, even a fine merino or when blended with silk. That is why I always wear a scarf and long sleeved tops with my cardigans. I thought I would get away with this one but not round my neck, so my mum now has the cravat. The tam is lovely but has no rib and no hatband (as per the pattern) so it just does not stay on my head. I have threaded elastic through it and that kind of works now. I can cope with wool in a hat as I have a big fringe so it never touches my skin!

I wanted to crack the pattern so I had another go in this lovely red Wendy Merino. I added some rows of rib and this one does fit and stay on. I don't normally wear red so this one was going to be for sale but I was surprisingly pleased with how it looked on so I kept it! I knitted the matching cravat too but I don't seem to have a photo of it.

I knitted this Aran pattern hat for my niece in Sublime Merino. She loves yellow and I love knitting cables so it was a good match. It was great fun to knit. There was a small moment of difficulty when she found that the pompom wasn't quite the colour green that she had picked out in the shop, (well remembered by her, age 3), but we have got over that now!

Next up was the completion of this lovely 1950's lace panel cardigan which I knitted in Millamia. I knitted the back, sleeves and one front in 2015!! It then sat in the naughty corner for a good long while as I got a bit confused working out the instructions for the other front. As is the way of vintage patterns, it just said to reverse what you did on the other side and I could not make it work. Helpful with lots of yarn overs and lace. Eventually, I sat down with my mum and she read out all the possibilities that a row could be whilst I knitted them to see what looked right. That way we got the pattern and I could finish my cardigan! It is a beautiful teal, the colour isn't exactly right in any of these photos.

This Marriner's tank top was one that I put on my 2017 knitting wish list and is in fact one of two projects from that list that got started in 2017. I started it on the train on the way to Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I have knitted the front and back, in Fyberspates Scrumptious and have stalled on the armbands. It is currently languishing in the Knitting Bag of Doom from which it deserves to be rescued rather soon. I would like to wear it.

This 1940's cardigan from a Canadian pattern has such a lovely texture, nice and squishy, and has great forties shoulders. It was knitted in Drops Merino and the colour is more like the second photo then the top one. It was a great pattern to knit. This one hasn't featured on the blog before as it was a commission knit.

I knitted this baby helmet from a 1950's pattern for a lovely friend's baby. I like the look of these traditional helmets and they must keep a baby's head nice and cosy. The decoration on the top is a button that you knit a little cover for and then sew to the centre of the helmet. I first knitted one of these helmets for my niece as a Christmas present when she was four months old. It has a bit of a family tale behind it. You can read the story of here.

This was another one from my knitting wish list. The model is holding an egg timer as the pattern states that this jumper can be knitted in eight hours. If you follow me on Instagram you will already know the sad story of this jumper. In brief, no, you can't knit it in eight hours and nor can you knit it with the yarn that I used (a Sublime silk/cotton mix) without it looking like a dish cloth. An expensive dish cloth at that. So it had to be pulled back and the yarn is back in my stash waiting for a more suitable project.

This is another unfinished project, it had to be put aside for more pressing matters but I do intend to go back to it. I really like 1940's tank tops/pullovers and have a great collection of men's patterns. This one gets bonus marks as it also fits into my Men Smoking collection. I have knitted the back and done the rib of the front. It might be for sale, it might be for me, we shall see!

I was on a beret mission in the latter half of 2017 as I wanted more of these most useful hats and had plenty of patterns to try out. This 1960's one is knitted in Debbie Bliss Aran in a fabulous duck egg colour. It was lovely to knit and I like the pattern. No photos of it on yet but I plan to remedy that soon.

I recently wrote a post about this beret pattern which you can read here so I won't repeat the details.

I also made a black one as a commission:

Squeezing in as the last knit of the year on the 29th December was a cream version, in alpaca and silk, for me.

In November I started another garment for myself. It is a 1960's sleeveless jumper with a big collar for pining brooches on. It is not finished yet but I can share the beginnings of it. I have knitted most of the front and have about an inch more to go on the collar. So about halfway there.

2017 appears to have been a year of hats and unfinished things. I'm aiming for more garments and more completed projects in 2018. What about you?

Works in progress (AKA knitting bag of doom)

Something about the new start/new year/season change feeling of September made me have a dig around in my knitting bag(s). I thought it might be wise to look at my unfinished projects and get some sort of plan together for reducing their number. I never intend to leave a project unfinished, it seems to happen for a variety of reasons such as: put aside to start a commission knit, put aside to knit a gift, put aside as babies keep being born, put aside as I need an easier project for knitting group, put aside as the sewing up needs doing, put aside as the lure of casting on something new was too strong, put aside as I need a new holiday project, put aside as I'm at a tricky bit and need to think it through, put aside as we have fallen out and it is in the naughty corner, put aside as the season changed and it isn't needed straight away, etc. Added to that my neck/shoulder problems sometimes mean I can't do as much knitting as I would like to and I have to ease off for a bit. Those reasons/excuses aside, this is where I am at.

Let's start with the most shameful.

It looks finished doesn't it? Like I should have been wearing it for ages on regular rotation in my wardrobe? Well yes and yet, no. It is so nearly finished that it is just ridiculous. It just needs a couple of rows of crochet to finish off the neckline. Tiny crochet true enough but just crochet. I can crochet. I can crochet that neckline. Why have I not? Why is my lovely 1940's jumper carefully folded in a bag? Will I hurry up and do it? Lets hope so.

It got put aside to begin with as I needed a think about whether I wanted the original neck fastening that you can see in the pattern photo. I don't normally like to deviate from the original pattern as I like my vintage knits to be as authentic as possible. In the end I decided that whilst I liked that fastening I wouldn't like it on me and so to get maximum wear out of the jumper I would just finish the neckline off in crochet. And that was TWO years ago!

I have been intrigued by these 1950's Alice band hats for a while. I like the look very much but wondered how comfy and easy to wear they would be. I had a couple of different patterns so I thought that I would experiment with both and see what I thought. They were very enjoyable to knit, interesting stitch patterns and construction. They have even been washed and blocked. I even have the hairbands, elastic and ribbon. But do they look like hats? Indeed they do not. Why is that? I think a year after they have been knitted it must be time for their completion.

It is a sad state of affairs for Pepi at the moment. So near and yet so very far. All his pieces are knitted and some are even stuffed and yet he is still not a poodle. I do know why this is at least. I knitted him for a craft competition earlier this year and then realised that with the best will in the world I would not get him finished in time as I had left it all too late. So then the impetus to finish him had gone, plus I was cross with myself for not getting my timing right so I blamed poor Pepi, obviously, plus, toys are a right fiddle to stuff and sew up and why do that when you could be knitting? But, he is cute and it isn't really his fault so I will finish him.

This 1950's bolero from a Vogue Knitting magazine always was an in between things project so I feel slightly less guilty about this than some of the others. I started it in August last year and then it got put away when the seasons changed and I hoped to finish it for this summer but now it is September and here we are. It doesn't look like much there but when I have draped it on me like the model it is going to look right when it is finished. Realistically though it is going back to the back of the queue as I won't need it for another whole year. Let's hope I am wearing it in August 2018!

Excuse the blurry photo, no idea what I did there.

I started this jumper last year and posted about it here. I know that this one got put aside commission knitting which I am completely fine with, that is just how it is. This is the completed back that you can see and I am probably about one colour repeat into the front so progress is being made. I would like to get this one ready to wear during autumn or winter so I think it will be what I start on with soon.

The colours aren't so good here as they are a really vibrant yellow gold and grey in real life. This is a 1940's tank top that I started in March this year. I know that as it was my train knitting and holiday project on the way to Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I have finished the front and back and have sewn them up but now have stalled slightly on the neck and armbands. They are just not that interesting to knit. That is the reason they haven't been knitted. Other knitting is more exciting! But I want to wear this lots so dull fiddly knitting will recommence soon.

I'm hoping that now all this is in the forefront of my mind rather than out of sight in a knitting bag and now that I have publicly shamed myself, the knitting bag of doom will soon yield up some completed items! Please tell me I'm not the only one!

2017 knitting wish list - 1960's-1970's

Clearly this year's knitting wish list is not nearly long enough so after going through my 1930's-1950's patterns I thought that I had better round things off and pull out my wish list from the 1960's and 1970's too. These are not always my preferred eras but I do find things that I would really like to knit from them. In particular, the 1960's knits have a good range of summer appropriate tops, something that I have discussed with another 1960's knits fan Crinoline Robot.

I really like the styling on this pattern before we even get to the knitwear and look at her glorious hair. This lovely little lacy top would be perfect for a summer's day.

We might as well look at all the lacy summer tops first. I haven't narrowed down my favourites yet which is why there are quite a few in the list. I like the way the lace carries on into the hem on these two.

This is called a harebell shell which sounds fabulous and I do like the harebell stitch pattern. The neckline is good too. It has styling potential for the 1950's so that would make it a versatile wardrobe addition.

Lee Target were obviously on a lace shell top roll in this year as this is very similar to pattern number two, just a different lace pattern. I still like it though.

I love this one. Who doesn't need a knitted poodle jumper in their wardrobe?!

I'm particularly taken with the orange jumper on the right. I really like the deep rib and the interesting stitch pattern. I think with careful styling this jumper could work in a 1940's outfit too.

I must deal with my hankering for a tank top soon and just knit myself some. I like the slip stitch pattern of this one and can see it working in many colour combinations as well as this fantastic monochrome one. Check out those blouse sleeves too.

I am after making myself the perfect Aran jumper or cardigan and I have a number of patterns to choose from. The one on the left is a strong contender. I even have two bags of Millamia aran in ochre stashed away ready to knit the perfect Aran when it is found!

I don't have very many (any?) jumpers as I am usually all about the cardigans. I think there may be a jumper shaped hole in my knitwear drawer and this might be just the thing to fill it. It finishes nicely on the waist, has interest in the lace panels and has a raglan sleeve.

I could also do with a fairly plain cardigan but I never put that very high up the list when there are all the fancy stitch cardigans to be knitted. Then I found this lovely ribbed Mary Quant number and suddenly a plain cardigan is looking quite likely.

One thing I love about 1960's knitwear are these fabulous skirt and jumper outfits. I think knitting a skirt might a) try my patience and b) not be flattering but I really like the look and would like to try it out. The cables on this skirt would relieve the tedium of miles and miles of stocking stitch too. Though I'm not knocking miles and miles of stocking stitch, that is good for watching films, inducing a calm state and knitting and talking/drinking/eating cake/all three at the same time.

A variation on the set above. I like the striped skirt but am not sure it would look so flattering. I do like the fact that you can have a matching hat and scarf to go with your jumper though.

So many fabulous patterns and not enough knitting time! I wonder what I will have made by the end of the year, if any?!

Next weekend I am off to Edinburgh Yarn Festival with a lovely group of friends. It is massively exciting and there will be many yarn shopping opportunities. I have been saving up and now I have kind of narrowed down my pattern choices I will know what to look out for! I am supposed to not get sidetracked by yarn that I don't have a plan for so I will see how that goes! Wish me luck!